Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 119 Each with their own plans
Upon hearing this, Song Ci withdrew her gaze and muttered, "Oh, no wonder I didn't see them."

Feeling the lively and bustling atmosphere of the premiere, Song Ci couldn't help but joke:
"Old Zhang, you're really something now. You have a wide network of connections and managed to get so many people to come and support you. This premiere is just as good as those big productions. It's really great."

Zhang Zhao shook his head and smiled bitterly: "President Song, you're just insulting me. I don't have that much influence. Everyone here is here because of the company's strength. It's you and President Wang Jing who laid a solid foundation for the company. I'm just reaping the benefits."

Song Ci waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to worry about it. Zhang Zhao and Tengda Culture were now intertwined, and Tengda Culture's success was also due to Zhang Zhao's efforts.

Recalling the guests she had seen, Song Ci casually asked, "I just saw you talking to Fan Bingbing. Isn't she an artist from Huayi Brothers? I remember we don't have any cooperation with Huayi Brothers."

She came alone.

Song Ci was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "That's interesting."

Although Tengda Culture and Huayi Company both belong to the Beiping entertainment circle, they do not usually have any business dealings and have always kept to themselves.

In her previous life, Song Ci had heard of the "Beijing Circle" and "Shanghai Circle," but she didn't pay much attention to them and didn't know much about the details. In this life, she made a special effort to learn about them because of Tengda Culture's business scope.

Beiping was the national cultural center, and the entire Beiping performing arts circle had a huge influence in the domestic art world. However, generally speaking, the Beiping performing arts circle can be divided into three factions.

One faction is the academic school represented by Beijing People's Art Theatre, Central Academy of Drama, and Beijing Film Academy; another faction is centered around Beiping Film Studio; and the last faction is the so-called "Beijing Circle".

The three factions produce film and television projects, frequently cooperating with each other while also competing and collaborating, resulting in a complex web of interpersonal relationships.

As the film and television industry became increasingly market-oriented and economically driven, the Beijing Film Studio gradually declined and was reorganized, and the influence of the "Beijing circle" expanded accordingly.

One of the core members of the "Beijing Circle" is Huayi Company, which is the main funder for film and television projects. Its core members are children of high-ranking officials such as Zheng Xiaolong, Wang Shuo, and Ye Dayin.

These children of high-ranking officials leverage their parents' influence and extensive networks to make it easier for artists in Beijing's entertainment circle to obtain performance opportunities and high-quality project resources.

In the decade or so from the 1990s to the early 2000s, 90% of the artists who became famous in the Beijing entertainment circle were promoted by the Beijing circle. Whoever they promoted became famous.

Many early classic films and television works in China were created by people from the Beijing film circle. These works were benchmarks in the film and television industry at the time and had a certain influence on the development direction and aesthetic standards of the entire industry.

When Song Ci and Wang Jing first founded Tengda Culture, they actually had dealings with the Beijing elite circle. However, the people in the Beijing elite circle were indeed domineering and always wanted to take more than their share, which made them unpopular.

Fortunately, Song Ci took a different approach, which allowed Wang Jing to recruit a group of people from the Beijing Film Studio, thus establishing the early production team of Tengda Culture.

This is also why Zhang Zhao wanted to cast Li Xiaolu when auditioning for the female lead in "Nightclub"—because Tengda's old team consisted of people from Beijing Film Studio, and Li Xiaolu's elders had extensive connections at Beijing Film Studio and were also connected to China Film Group.

Later, Song Ci, with the foresight of a reborn individual, seized the opportunity of the national cinema reform to open up battlefields in southern provinces and rapidly rise to prominence by acquiring cinema chains before the Beijing elites could react.

By the time people in Beijing's elite circles realized what was happening, Tengda had already completed its initial industrial layout and was no longer a minor player that could be easily manipulated. It has since coexisted peacefully with companies like Huayi and has continued to develop to its current state.

Zhang Zhao leaned closer and whispered in Song Ci's ear, "President Song, I heard that the relationship between the two soldiers has always been bad, and Fan is being suppressed by Li."

This caused a rift between Fan Bingbing and Huayi Brothers, and with her contract expiring in the second half of this year, she may want to switch employers.

Song Ci seemed to be deep in thought: "You want the company to sign her?"

Zhang Zhao nodded, having the same idea, and then reported to Song Ci: "In the company's artist management business, Qiao Zhengyu has been successfully supported in the male celebrity sector."

However, among the female celebrities, Wang Luodan and Lü Yi are currently too young to handle the situation, and it remains to be seen whether they will become popular in the future.

So I was thinking of signing an established actress to bolster the company's image. Yu Xin recommended Gao Yuanyuan, and the company has been in contact with her. However, I personally think Fan Bingbing is more suitable.

This is why Zhang Zhao and Fan Bingbing talked about film and television projects when they first met. If Fan Bingbing was willing to join Tengda Culture, he would offer her the lead role in the big-budget drama "My Love from the Star" as a signing gift.

Song Ci neither agreed nor disagreed with Zhang Zhao's idea. He himself had no expectations for Fan Bingbing to sign with Tengda, and the same was true for Gao Yuanyuan.

He remembered it clearly: after Fan Bingbing terminated her contract with Huayi Brothers, she opened her own studio and ambitiously embarked on the path to marrying into a wealthy family.

"You can handle the signing yourself; it doesn't matter whether it goes through or not. By the way, I just met Cai Yinong. Tell me about the cooperation plan with Tangren Media that you mentioned last time."

After gathering his thoughts, Zhang Zhao quickly reported, "It's like this, President Song: Tangren Media has acquired the film and television adaptation rights to 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' from Mr. Jin Yong, and we will begin preparing to film it after the New Year."

Last year, I reached an agreement with Cai Yinong: Hu Ge would play the male lead in "Fleet of Time" in exchange for the investment rights to "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Tangren Media is, after all, a leader in period dramas, and its TV series have a strong market presence. Many TV stations are willing to purchase them, and investing in them will definitely be profitable.

Cai Yinong is a narrow-minded woman who always prefers to hog everything; it's really not going to be easy for her to get involved in Tangren's film and television projects.

"Invest in 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes'!"

Song Ci murmured softly, her eyes deep and her expression solemn, considering whether she should take the opportunity to interfere. In her previous life, Tangren almost went bankrupt when they filmed "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

After the lead actor Hu Ge was involved in a car accident, the production of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was suspended indefinitely. However, the production expenses, such as venue rental and idle equipment, continued to be incurred every day, resulting in huge financial losses.

The film purchase contracts signed with various TV stations were all terminated due to Hu Ge's car accident and the suspension of filming, which interrupted Tangren's cash flow and caused serious problems in the company's cash flow.

Even more seriously, during Hu Ge's car accident and the suspension of filming, Tangren's film and television rights to "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" were about to expire, which was a double blow to Tangren.

Moreover, at the time, another company was negotiating the copyright issue for the adaptation of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," which put Tangren Media at risk of losing the filming rights to the series.

Once the film and television rights are lost, all of Tangren's initial investments will be wasted, and they will be unable to generate revenue from the subsequent broadcast of the series.

Fortunately, Mr. Jin later learned of this and generously offered his assistance, suspending the adaptation rights process with the publisher. He also renewed the copyright agreement for Tangren Media for another year without demanding any additional fees. This allowed Tangren to breathe a sigh of relief, scrape together the funds for reshoots, and barely manage to pull through.

However, Hu Ge, as the lead actress, was seriously injured and requires a long period of treatment and recovery, forcing her to suspend her acting career.

For Tangren Media, this means that the planned performing arts projects and commercial activities centered around Hu Ge cannot proceed as planned.

The company's business development was severely hampered, and it took two or three years to recover.

Song Ci lowered his eyes, making it impossible to see his expression. After careful consideration, he slowly gave instructions to Zhang Zhao, but his voice revealed a chilling intent.

"We can invest in 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' but Tangren Media has taken our money, so we must guarantee the effectiveness of the project's results."

This must be stipulated in the contract: if *The Legend of the Condor Heroes* cannot be completed on time, Tengda has the right to withdraw its funding, and Tangren Media must compensate us for our losses.

Business competition is a life-or-death struggle, and Song Ci's ability to build such a large career clearly shows that he was not a weak or merciful person.

The revival of Song poetry has already created a certain butterfly effect. If Hu Ge hadn't had the car accident, everything would have been fine, and Tengda and Tangren would have had a pleasant collaboration.

If another car accident occurs and delays the filming of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," then don't blame Song for setting a trap.

It's fate. Tangren Media has such a good foundation, it would be a great pity if it were to decline in the future. Since Cai Yinong can't hold on to it, he should step down and make way for a more capable person.

Furthermore, there was something else that Song Ci always resented: she used Tengda's resources to promote Liu Shishi because she loved and doted on her and didn't care about those resources, so her own childhood sweetheart could enjoy them.

Putting aside the fact that Liu Shishi is a contracted artist with Tangren Media, why should Cai Yinong feel at ease letting Liu Shishi make money for him? What goes around comes around.

Zhang Zhao was unaware that the chairman was cunning and had already set his sights on Tangren Company. Upon hearing Song Ci's agreement, he was filled with enthusiasm and planned to contact Cai Yinong after the Spring Festival to finalize the cooperation agreement.

Just after Zhang Zhao left to search for Song Ci, Fan Bingbing, Wang Changtian, and Li Ming kept their eyes on him. After all, the three of them were also curious about which distinguished guest Zhang Zhao had rushed off to greet.

The three watched Zhang Zhao from afar. When he came to a handsome young man, he stopped, stood sideways, leaned slightly forward, and kept talking to him, his attitude appearing very respectful.

The young man's expression was natural, showing none of the awkwardness or obsequiousness that young people in the industry typically display when meeting the CEO of a film company; he exuded the air of someone in a superior position.

Looking at that excessively handsome face, Fan Bingbing's eyes lit up. This guy's looks are a gift from God; he was born to be in the entertainment industry.

If you can bring someone into your studio, with a little training, they can become a pillar of the studio.

However, as a member of Huayi, Fan Bingbing had little contact with Tengda Culture and knew very little about the personnel at Tengda.

So he asked, "Mr. Wang, Mr. Li, do you two know that handsome guy next to Mr. Zhang?"

When the big star asked about handsome men, Li Ming laughed and joked, "What, Bingbing's heart fluttered when she saw a handsome guy?"

Fan Bingbing, being forthright and generous, said with a charming smile, "If the handsome young man is willing, I wouldn't mind having a relationship. My family has been urging me to take him home for the New Year. It would be so prestigious to bring him out with such a face."

Which older woman could resist such a handsome and charming young man? If he were to join the studio, Fan Bingbing wouldn't mind using some tricks to give the hot-blooded young man a taste of success. Besides, with someone as handsome as him, she wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

"He looks familiar." Wang Changtian squinted, staring intently at the other person, trying hard to recall where he had seen him before.

"It's him!" Wang Changtian exclaimed in surprise. Combining Zhang Zhao's humble and respectful attitude, he suddenly remembered seeing this handsome young man on the Beiping News before.

He stood beside the top leader in Beiping then, just as outstanding as he is now. The only difference was that he wore glasses on television and looked a few years older than he does now.

Fan Bingbing asked curiously upon hearing the voice, "Does President Wang know him?"

Wang Changtian nodded, hesitating whether to go over and say hello, taking the opportunity to get to know him. "He is Song Ci, the big boss of Tengda Group, who ranked seventh on the Hurun Rich List last October."

Upon hearing this, Li Ming looked over and, after a moment, recognized Song Ci. He hesitated and said, "President Wang, should we go over and greet her and get to know her?"

Of the three here, Fan Bingbing is a woman, so we won't mention her. Enlight Media has developed the best, so Wang Changtian has the highest status. His company, Xiaoma Benteng, is currently only of average size and doesn't rank among the top film and television companies in the industry.

Knowing that the other party was a rising star in the business world with a net worth of nearly 10 billion, Li Ming did not dare to approach him rashly, so he consulted Wang Changtian for his opinion.

Even though Fan Bingbing doesn't care about finance or economics, she still knows about the top ten richest people in China. Although she has never seen a photo of Song Ci, he was a big internet celebrity a few months ago.

She had seen netizens' comments on Song Ci, such as "the most handsome among the rich," "the richest among the handsome men," "the noble young master," "the nation's husband," and all sorts of domineering titles, which caused a sensation at the time.

With a captivating glint in her eyes, Fan Bingbing said anxiously, "President Wang, President Li, this is an opportunity not to be missed." She then lifted her skirt and eagerly walked towards Song Ci.

Wang Changtian laughed and called to Li Ming, "Let's go, Lao Li, let's go meet her. We're not as decisive as Bingbing, a woman."

Under the dazzling lights, Fan Bingbing moved gracefully, like a blooming rose in the dark night. Her fitted red evening gown accentuated her beautiful curves, and her swaying figure exuded elegance and grace.

With a faint smile and a hint of barely perceptible longing in her eyes, Fan Bingbing wanted to build her own wealthy family, but who would refuse a shortcut if there were one?

The man in front of her is handsome, rich, and, most importantly, young and unmarried, which means anything is possible. How many female celebrities could resist such temptation?

Even if they don't get a formal title, as long as they can get some support from the other party in their careers and obtain some resources from Tengda Company, they will have made a huge profit.

Since you're going to find a powerful backer in the entertainment industry, it doesn't matter who you ask, so why not go all the way and find the richest and most powerful one? Besides, that face is pleasing to the eye!
(End of this chapter)